1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an I/O (inorganic/organic) dispersant and applications thereof, and particularly to an I/O dispersant which is applied to dispersing nanoparticles of metal oxides, for example, white pigment and photocatalyst made from TiO2.
2. Related Prior Arts
For application of TiO2 in commercial articles and industrial processes, it's always a technical issue to efficiently disperse TiO2 particles or powders into a solvent. Different sizes of TiO2 can be applied to different fields, for example, nanoparticles of TiO2 can be used as photocatalysts, microparticles of TiO2 can be used as paints.
The well known method for dispersing TiO2 consists in adding a general organic surfactant or a polymeric dispersant. The surfactant or dispersant primarily includes different segments with respective affinities to the solvent and the dispersed particles, so that the dispersant can be effectively attached to surfaces of the TiO2 particles and also dispersed in the solvent. By means of steric hindrance of the dispersant, the TiO2 particles will be stable and no longer aggregate in the solvent.
However, the effect of the dispersant is easily influenced by temperature and time. Once the dispersant is desorbed or isolated from the surfaces of the TiO2 particles, the dispersant will be unstable with aggregation.
To solve the above problem, the present invention provides an I/O dispersant which is suitable for application of TiO2 particles.